class action

noun

: a legal action undertaken by one or more plaintiffs on behalf of themselves and all other persons having an identical interest in the alleged wrong

Examples of class action in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Retaining national law firm Motley Rice to represent the district in a class action lawsuit that specifically focuses on the harmful effects of social media on youth, according to information provided by the district. —Al Gaspeny, arkansasonline.com, 26 Apr. 2024

On behalf of Elizabeth Castillo and other U.S. consumers of Prime Hydration, the Milberg law firm filed a class action suit against Paul's company in August 2023 in the Northern District of California. —Jonathan Limehouse, USA TODAY, 24 Apr. 2024

Ten of the 16 copyright infringement cases were filed as putative class actions on behalf of authors or visual artists. —Paul Sweeting, Variety, 17 Apr. 2024

According to Variety, class action lawyer Cody R. LeJeune had argued that everyone who bought a ticket or paid a rental fee to watch Yesterday potentially deserved a payout. —Wesley Stenzel, EW.com, 17 Apr. 2024

The class action lawsuit argued that anyone who bought tickets to the movie or rented it had been misled by Universal. De Armas was cast as a love interest for lead actor Himesh Patel, but her scenes were cut in the final version of the film after test screenings. —Tomás Mier, Rolling Stone, 16 Apr. 2024

Prior to that, Tesla settled most of a class action lawsuit in 2018 pertaining to similar claims, avoiding a trial. —Wes Davis, The Verge, 15 Apr. 2024

Napoli hopes by this fall the judge will have ruled on a motion filed in his class action lawsuit against Northrop Grumman. —Cb Cotton, Fox News, 13 Apr. 2024

The terms of service on Casting Networks include a mandatory arbitration provision and a class action waiver, which purports to bar subscribers from pursuing class action suits. —Gene Maddaus, Variety, 16 Apr. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1909, in the meaning defined above

Legal Definition

class action

noun

: an action in which a representative plaintiff sues or a representative defendant is sued on behalf of a class of plaintiffs or defendants who have the same interests in the litigation as their representative and whose rights or liabilities can be more efficiently determined as a group than in a series of individual suits

called also class action suit, class suit

see also certification compare consolidate, joinder, test case at case

Note: Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure sets out the prerequisites for having an action certified as a class action in federal court. Section (a) permits a class action if “(1) the class is so numerous that joinder of all members is impracticable, (2) there are questions of law or fact common to the class, (3) the claims or defenses of the representative parties are typical of the claims or defenses of the class, and (4) the representative parties will fairly and adequately protect the interests of the class.” If the action satisfies these requirements, it must then fit into one of three categories: (1) where individual litigation would have varying results requiring the opposing party to act inconsistently toward the class members or would affect the interests of class members who are not parties to the individual action; (2) where the opposing party has acted or refused to act on grounds that are applicable to the class members as a whole and therefore injunctive or declaratory relief with respect to the class members as a whole is appropriate; or, (3) where the questions of law or fact common to the class members outweigh questions that apply to only particular individuals so that a class action is the best method to determine respective rights and liabilities. Using these guidelines, the judge will decide if an action should be certified as a class action.